Game of Thrones: The Sweet Reason Ed Sheeran Is Appearing in Season 7

Game of Thrones: The Sweet Reason Ed Sheeran Is Appearing in Season 7

The showrunners also confirm an even shorter final season.

By Joanna Robinson. Photos: Getty Images, Courtesy of Twitter.

Though Game of Thrones has a rich history of musical guest stars, usually, those performers fly a little bit under the radar. But this season, creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff landed someone a bit more starry. British megastar Ed Sheeran will appear in Season 7—and at a South by Southwest panel on Sunday, the showrunners explained the very personal reason why.

In a conversation moderated by stars Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner, Benioff said they had tried for years to land Sheeran as a surprise for Williams, who is a huge fan. This is the year they finally made it happen.

Past Game of Thrones musical cameos have included members of Coldplay, Mastodon, Of Monsters and Men, and Sigur Rós. There’s no confirmation if Sheeran will be singing or performing (like Sigur Rós and Of Monsters and Men did)—nor even if he’ll be recognizably himself when he appears on-screen. (Members of Mastadon played unrecognizably zombified Wildlings.)

In announcing who would be writing the scripts for Season 8, Weiss and Benioff also confirmed that the show’s upcoming final season will be even shorter than its already shortened penultimate season: a mere six episodes.

As we now know, Game of Thrones Season 7 (and, perhaps, Sheeran) will be arriving on July, 16 2017. As for Season 8, we can only safely assume it will arrive sometime in 2018.